


Just One Dance

by bellarkeness



Category: The 100
Genre: 21st Birthday, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Elementary School, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cuteness overload, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Minor Angst, SO MUCH FLUFF, Some domestic fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-23 17:37:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17687924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellarkeness/pseuds/bellarkeness
Summary: The four times that Clarke Griffin asks Bellamy Blake to dance and the one time he asks her to dance.





	Just One Dance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MTBlack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MTBlack/gifts).



> This gift is dedicated to shesomething on tumblr. I'm sorry for not being able to get to link your account on here but I haven't figured that one out yet. So I really hope that you enjoy this modern au and slight domestic fluff.

_**Fifth Grade** _

Clarke listened to the teacher drone on about the different events the school was going to have for the month. She doodled different shapes on the paper in front of her, watching as a galaxy started to form along the edge. Her ears perked up as the teacher mentioned the upcoming dance that was two days away. The theme for the dance was going to be Under the Sea and she knew exactly how she wanted to dress for it. 

“Raven, are you going?” Clarke whispered.

“Yeah, are you?”

“Yeah, wanna go shopping after school?” Clarke asked quietly, hoping to avoid the teacher. She got the answer in the form of a head shake as the teacher stared at them, forcing them to go back to facing forward. Clarke went back to ignoring the teacher and started on a new set of stars in her galaxy. 

After class, Clarke went to the office to call her mom to ask if she could take them shopping. Her mom wasn’t available, but one of the interns would pass along the message. Clarke tried her dad next, hoping that he would at least be able to drop them off at the mall. She almost squealed when her dad answered and agreed to take them shopping. Clarke ran to her next class to share the good news with Raven. 

“My dad said yes!” Clarke practically shouted. “So we can go get our dresses for Friday!”

“Yay!” Raven shouted in joy. “I can’t wait!”

“You both are so dumb.”

“Not as dumb as you, Bellamy,” Clarke sneered, sticking her tongue out. 

“Good one, Princess.”

Clarke was about to respond when the teacher walked into the room, quieting the class to begin their lesson for the day. She spent the rest of the hour counting down the minutes until the end of the day. She was more than ready to go shopping with her friend for the dance. Clarke bounced in her seat as the clock counted down the last few seconds. When the bell rang, both her and Raven were the first out of their seats, racing to get the perfect dress.

* * *

Clarke walked into the gym, decorated with sparkly blue streamers and blue balloons to give the feeling of being under the water. She searched the room for her friends, running over to them, and showing off her shiny new dress. Her dress was pale blue and went just above her knees, with sparkles all throughout the chiffon. She twirled around to show them the entire dress and blushed as everyone complimented her.

“Do you think that you’re going to ask anyone, a boy, to dance?”

“I think I might,” Clarke said, looking around for the person she wanted to ask. “If I can find him.”

“Who?” Raven asked, staring at her friend in confusion.

“I don’t see him,” She said, avoiding the questions. Clarke didn’t want to say his name out loud, in case he didn’t come. She spotted him, standing in the corner with his friends. “I’ll be back.”

Clarke took off towards to the boy she wanted to ask for a dance. Her stomach was starting to get butterflies, the closer she got to the group of boys. Clarke took a deep breath, hoping to calm the nerves she was starting to feel. All of the boys turned to look at her as she approached, making her want to turn around but she wasn’t backing down.

“Hey guys,” Clarke said, shyly pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Princess.”

“Bellamy, do you want to dance with me?” Clarke asked and was proud that her voice didn’t shake. 

Bellamy just stood there, blankly staring at her face, without responding. She wasn’t sure if he had heard her, over the music that was playing and the conversations of the boys around them. She was about to repeat her question when he seemed to snap out of his trance.

“I don’t dance, Clarke.”

Clarke felt the color rise from her chest, coloring her cheeks a bright red. She started to back away from the group of boys, now snickering at her. She turned away from them quickly as the laughter grew louder, following her out of the gymnasium. Clarke had never felt more embarrassed than she did right now, being rejected in front of so many people. She ignored Raven calling after her as she left the gym and the dance behind her making her way home. Clarke just hoped that everyone would forget about the dance by Monday.

* * *

_**Freshman Year** _

Clarke stood in front of the mirror remembering her first dance as she shopped for a homecoming dress. She was trying on a pale blue full length dress that was reminiscent of the one she wore in the fifth grade. Raven had made her try it on because she had said that it was the perfect one. Clarke wasn’t as convinced because of the memories that it brought back to her. She stepped out of the dressing room.

“Well?” Clarke asked her friend when she emerged from behind the door.

“I think that you look gorgeous but how do you feel?” Raven countered, coming to stand next to her. “I mean it brings out the blue in your eyes, but doesn’t overpower them”

“I think it reminds me too much of the fifth grade, Raven.”

“Are you still hung up on the whole dance thing with Bellamy?”

“He embarrassed me in front of everyone!” She snapped. “Why go to a dance when you don’t dance?”

“Maybe he was just trying to be cool in front of the guys,” Raven reasoned. “I mean girls still had ‘cooties’ back then.”

“Well, I guess this is the one,” Clarke said. “Let’s pay for our dresses and get out of here.” 

Clarke went back into the changing room to get dressed in her regular clothes. She picked up the dress that she was going to wear to homecoming. Clarke didn’t want to admit that Raven was right about how the dress looked on her. She was just hoping that it would be enough to catch his attention and maybe this time he would actually dance with her.

* * *

Clarke entered the gym with her dress swaying from side to side. She quickly found her group of friends sitting at a table by the food. She laughed to herself, knowing that Jasper picked the table. She made her way over to them, trying not to let her eyes search for the person that she wanted to see most.

“Clarke!” Jasper greeted with a goofy grin on his face. “We were just waiting for you!”

“Well here I am.”

“Did you see Bellamy brought a date to the dance?” Monty asked. “I don’t think they’ve moved from their table.”

Clarke felt her heart sink at the mention of Bellamy having brought a date to the dance. She looked around the room in search of him and his date. Her eyes found him quickly but he had this annoyed expression on his face and his date looked pissed. Clarke got up abruptly, ignoring whatever Monty and Jasper were debating, making her way over to where Bellamy was sitting with his date.

“Hey Bellamy,” She greeted softly.

“Princess.”

“Are you ever going to call me by my name?” Clarke asked, ignoring the glare from the girl beside him. “Who’s your date?”

“Uh, this is Octavia,” Bellamy said, motioning to the girl next to him. “Octavia, this is Clarke.”

“Oh, so you do know my name!” She teased. “Hey Bellamy, wanna dance?” Clarke knew that it was rude to ask him when he had brought a date, but she was jealous. 

Bellamy shook his head laughing quietly to himself. He knew it was a mistake to bring Octavia to the homecoming dance, but he had hoped it would stop any of the girls from asking him to dance. He should’ve known that Clarke wasn’t going to be easily deterred from asking him. 

“I don’t dance, Princess.”

“Maybe that is why your date looks so pissed off right now, Bellamy,” she blurted out.

“Nah, she’s pissed because she would rather be anywhere but, at a dance with her brother.”

Clarke felt her jaw drop open at the confession that he said. She couldn’t believe that Bellamy Blake brought his sister to homecoming as his date. Clarke didn’t say another word, before she got up and returned to her friend’s table. They all had questions as to who the girl was with Bellamy, but she didn’t have it in her heart to embarrass him like that, so she kept her mouth shut. She spent the rest of the night dancing with her friends while Bellamy sat at the table with his sister.

* * *

_**Senior Year** _

Clarke couldn’t help but laugh as the nominations from prom King and Queen came across the morning announcements. She wasn’t surprised by who their class had placed in the running for the title. She heard her name being called with a few others, like Raven and Harper. The boys were a little more shocking as Miller and Bellamy’s names were called. She laughed because she knew, for a fact, at least one of them didn’t dance. 

“What’s so funny, Princess?” Bellamy asked as he turned around to see her.

“The nominations are what’s so funny, Bell.” 

“I know, you as Prom Queen is pretty hilarious.”

Clarke stopped laughing as he taunted her with a smirk on his face and mischief dancing in his eyes. Suddenly, she wondered if he had ever seen any of the teenage romantic movies that have ever been made, because if he had, he wouldn’t be laughing.

“Do you know what happens once the King and Queen are crowned?” She asked quietly.

Bellamy sat there silent for a moment thinking about the question. “They get their picture taken and get to take home a cheap plastic crown,” he stated matter of factly and with a confidence he didn’t really feel.

Clarke wasn’t able to hold in the laugh, that burst from her chest at his response. He honestly didn’t know what would happen if he was crowned Prom King. She pulled herself closer to him, so that she could whisper the right answer. She felt his whole body go rigid as she told him the truth.

“After the crowning, Bellamy, the King and Queen share a dance.”

Clarke dropped back into her seat, laughing even harder at the look of pure mortification on his face. She almost felt bad for being the one to tell him what would happen if he were crowned King, but it kinda made up for all the times he embarrassed her. Clarke watched him turn back around to face the front of the class, ignoring her for the rest of the hour, and bolting when the bell rang.

* * *

Clarke stood in the middle of the dance floor holding onto Raven and Harper’s hands, as the teachers quieted the room of seniors. She could feel her heart starting to pound as they got ready to announce the court. First, it was Harper’s name called, and then it was Raven’s, leaving Clarke and one other girl.

“And your 2010 Prom Queen is….Clarke Griffin!”

Clarke almost screamed when it finally registered that she was officially the Prom Queen. She quickly made her way to the stage to receive her crown and wait for the King to be crowned. Clarke watched as Miller was called, and then Murphy, before the King was revealed. She felt her heart stop when the winner was read.

“And your 2010 Prom King is...Bellamy Blake!”

Bellamy almost choked on the punch that he had just taken a drink of, as his name was called out as Prom King. He thought for sure he had rigged it, so that he would lose to someone else. As all eyes turned towards him, he realized that he hadn’t done it right and made his way towards the stage, to stand next to Clarke.

“Looks like you finally have to dance with me, Bellamy.”

“I don’t dance, Princess.”

“I’m a Queen now, and it’s tradition!”

Bellamy just shook his head as he gave her a small kiss on the cheek. He hoped that it would be enough to lessen the sting of him not dancing with her. 

“Will the King and Queen make their way to the dance floor to share a dance?” The DJ said as a spotlight was placed in the center of the room.

Clarke felt his soft lips touch the side of her face in a gentle kiss. She tried to hold in the single tear but failed, as it rolled down her cheek, while she watched him walk away from her. He put his crown down in front of the chair that held her small clutch. Clarke felt her heart breaking a little as he left the banquet hall, without giving her the traditional King and Queen dance. She walked off of the stage, trying not to lose it completely, as she picked up her clutch and his crown, leaving the dance without a backward glance.

* * *

_**21st Birthday** _

Clarke was looking over the different clubs they had around her apartment that were within walking distance. She found a few that wouldn’t have a cover and would play good dancing music. Clarke heard the buzzer to her apartment sound and Raven’s voice filter through the speaker. 

“Let me up!”

Clarke went over to the door pressing the button to unlock the front door, without responding. She quickly unlocked her door for her friend and went back to her list of places to go. Her front door opened swiftly, almost hitting the wall, stopped by one of her shoes she had discarded there. 

“Can we not put a hole in my wall?” Clarke asked. “I mean I know it’s not the best place, but the landlord definitely frowns upon new holes in the walls.”

“Oh I’m sure he would...cheap bastard,” Raven remarked as she closed the door behind her. “You ready to go shopping for your birthday dress?”

“Yeah, there is a thrift store around the corner that might have some good finds.”

“Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s get going!”

Clarke rolled her eyes as she gathered her things to head out shopping. Raven was definitely more excited to go shopping that she was for this ‘perfect’ dress. She was trying to prepare herself for hours of sifting through clothes to find the one. Her figure had definitely filled out over the years, making her curvier than most, which made clothes hard to find. But she was determined to look the best that she could for her birthday.

* * *

Clarke surveyed herself in the mirror looking at the dress she had chose for her birthday. She had found the little black dress at a thrift store around the corner from her apartment. The dress hugged her curves in all of the right places and hid the parts she cared to forget were there. She heard her phone go off and checked to see who the message was from. She slipped into her heels and quickly made her way to the cab and her waiting best friend.

“You look fucking hot,” Raven remarked as she slid into the car. “Seriously, Clarke, hot as fuck!”

“I know!” Clarke agreed. “Now, let’s go.”

Clarke gave the taxi driver the address of the first club, where they were going to start. She had planned them all out, so they could walk from place to place and eventually end up at the one closest to her apartment. 

“So who is all coming?” Raven asked

“I don’t know, exactly,” she replied. “I did a Facebook event, but people always say yes and rarely show up.”

“This is true...so it might just be us tonight?”

“Well I did invite someone, I hope comes,who we haven’t seen since high school.”

“You invited Bellamy?!” Raven shrieked. “I can’t believe you haven’t given up.”

“I don’t know if he will even show up, but, if he does I plan on asking him to dance,” she responded. “Maybe I can guilt trip him into it as a present for my birthday.”

Clarke spent the next few hours drinking and dancing the night away. She had quite a few friends make it to the different places she checked into throughout the night. Clarke found herself looking for Bellamy every time they entered a new place. Her feet were killing her by the time they made it to the last place and she wasn’t sure she wanted to dance anymore. Clarke looked around the club, not finding Bellamy, and went to one of the chairs at end of the bar. She turned to tell Raven it might be time to call it a night, when a pair of hands covered her eyes, pulling her back into broad chest.

“Hey, Princess.” 

Clarke shivered as his lips grazed the shell of her ear and the voice registered in her brain, as the person she had been searching for all night. She pulled his hands from her eyes, turning in his embrace, to come face to face with him. Before her brain caught up with her actions, she pressed her lips to his remembering the softness of his lips against her cheek. Clarke pulled back just a little and watched the grin pull at the corners of his mouth.

“Still impulsive as ever, huh, Clarke,” Bellamy said with a lopsided grin. “How’s your birthday?”

Bellamy listened as she recounted all of the places that her and everyone had been to that evening. He apologized for not being able to make it before now, but classes had ran later than he expected. Bellamy watched Clarke take off with Raven, after they had a moment to catch up. Both of them were in the middle of the dance floor, when the song switched to something from their high school days. He watched Clarke come bouncing over to him and he knew, before she opened her mouth, what she was going to say.

“Dance with me!”

“I don’t dance, Clarke.”

“Come on, Bellamy, it can be my birthday present!” She begged. “Just one dance.”

“Sorry, Clarke,” Bellamy said. “How about I take you on a date instead?”

Clarke shook her head at the ridiculousness of his offer. She couldn’t believe that Bellamy didn’t want to dance with her, but he would ask her on a date. 

“Okay, but I will get you to dance with me, one day.” She said, before yelling back to him. “I promise!”

Clarke smiled as she danced away from where he sat, watching her. She felt confident for the first time since he rejected her back in the fifth grade. Clarke finally realized that it wasn’t that Bellamy didn’t like her, but he couldn’t dance, so he just didn’t. She turned back to look at where he was sitting and caught him staring at her intently. She just waved to him from the center of the dance floor wondering how long it would take before he gave into her.

* * *

_**Wedding** _

Clarke twirled her new ring around her finger, smiling as the sun caught the simple princess cut solitaire diamond that sat perfectly on her finger. She looked over to where he was sitting next to her as the idea of planning their wedding blossomed in her mind. Clarke had a million ideas that she wanted to share with him, but she wondered most about their first dance. She scooted closer to him on the couch, laying her head down in his lap, hoping to get his attention from the book he was reading. 

“Can I help you, Princess?”

“I was just thinking about our wedding, Bellamy,” Clarke started. “What do you think our first dance should be?”

“I don’t dance, Clarke,” Bellamy simply stated. “You’ve been asking me for years and the answer is still the same.”

“But you can take lessons to learn how to dance!”

“Clarke…”

“Bellamy, come on, this is our wedding,” She spoke softly. “You can at least give me one dance, our first dance as newlyweds, after ditching me at prom.”

“I don’t dance, Clarke.”

“Fine, whatever Bellamy,” Clarke huffed. “But you’re wearing the crown from prom.”

“You kept that?” Bellamy asked, shocked she still had it. “I can’t believe you kept that cheap plastic thing.”

“Well, it was better than nothing.”

Bellamy shook his head slightly as he looked down at his beautiful soon to be wife. He never imagined that he would be here with her, after everything, but here they were talking about their wedding. He reached down to gently caress her cheek before pulling her up to place a soft kiss against her lips.

“I love you, Clarke,” Bellamy whispered against her lips. “And I will wear the stupid crown if you give up the dance.”

Clarke felt her heart fall just a little at the idea of not having a first dance with him, but the thought of him in that ridiculous crown made her smile. She reached her arms up to pull him back down to her and kiss him again. Clarke could give up the dance, if it meant spending the rest of her life with the man before her. She laughed against his lips realizing that she was going to have a lifetime to get him to dance with her.

* * *

Clarke sat at the head table, looking out into the room full of friends and family celebrating with them. She spotted her husband over by the bar, talking with his friend Miller. She still couldn’t believe that he had worn the crown because she had meant it as a joke. Clarke turned to her right as her maid of honor sat down next to her.

“I can’t believe you actually married him.” 

“I can’t believe he’s actually wearing that crown,” she remarked. “I guess, anything to keep from dancing.”

“Well he does look dashing now that he’s finally married his princess,” Raven said, nudging her shoulder with her own. “The pictures are going to be priceless.”

“Well, yeah, they will be,” Clarke laughed, looking forward towards the reception. “Where did Bellamy go?” She couldn’t find him in the crowd of people anymore and Miller had disappeared too. Clarke stood up to go in search of him when she located Miller over by the DJ. She made her way down to the edge of the dance floor, when she froze at the sight before her.

“Hey, Princess,” Bellamy said into the microphone he held in his hands from the center of the dance floor. “Care to join me out here?”

Clarke felt her heart stop, as the words registered in her brain. She felt like she was in a daze, walking out to meet her husband in the one place she never thought she would see him. Clarke turned her face to look at him as he turned to Miller, giving a slight nod of his head, and she still felt a little lost.

“Bellamy?”

“I love you, Clarke.” Bellamy said as the music started and he grabbed her hand pulling her in close. “Dance with me?”

Clarke suddenly found it hard to breathe as Bellamy started swaying her in time with the music and humming the tune against her ear. She felt his breath ghost across her skin as he started singing the song to her. Clarke found herself fighting back tears as the words he crooned to her softly, registered in her shocked brain.

_“I don’t dance, but here I am_  
_Spinning you around and around in circles_  
_It ain’t my style, but I don’t care_  
_I’d do anything with you anywhere_  
_Yes, you got me in the palm of your hand_  
_'Cause, I don’t dance”_

Clarke felt herself crying big ugly tears as the song came to an end and they stopped moving together. She couldn’t help the emotions that were running through her system, at the gift he had given her. Clarke swallowed back the emotion and attempted to stop the tears from pouring down her cheeks. She felt him reach up, gently cupping her face, swiping the tears from her cheeks and kissed her gently on the forehead.

“I love you, Bellamy Blake,” she whispered up to him as she hugged him closer to her.

“Always and forever, Princess.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!!


End file.
